Gender and Relationships at Work

Despite the lack of an extensive research literature on the topic, the intersection of gender and relationships is an everyday occurrence in the workplace and it is worthy of greater empirical and theoretical attention. The presence and importance of gender in the workplace is widely acknowledged. Gender affects type of occupation, position in the organizational hierarchy, salary, work values, work behaviours and many other facets of work. Relationships too have captured the attention of organizational researchers (e.g., Allen, McManus & Russell, 1999; Bauer, Morrison & Callister, 1998; Graen & Uhl-Bien, 1995; Kram & Isabella, 1985; McDougall & Beattie, 1997), but in many cases workplace friendships and social networks have been studied with little or no attention paid to the dynamics of gender in those relationships (Gibbons, 2004; Ibarra, 1993; Ibarra & Andrews, 1993; Winstead, Derlega, Montgomery & Pilkington, 1995). The mentoring literature appears to be an exception. Although mentoring literature has extensively considered gender dynamics (e.g., Dreher & Cox, 1996; Ragins & Cotton, 1991, 1999; Olian, Carroll & Giannantonio, 1993), many more aspects have yet to be explored (cf., Young, Cady & Foxton, 2006); and the empirical work is in need of updating. The tendency to report on sex differences without conceptualizing the ‘links between gender identity and organizational structures and practices’ has recently been noted by Ely and Padavic (2007).